July 20, Candace Walkington, an associate professor and Gerald J. Ford Research Fellow in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development at SMU Dallas, for a piece advocating that math curriculum be more compelling and relevant to modern day applications and career needs. Published in the Austin American-Statesman under the heading The way Texas teaches math just doesn’t add up: https://bit.ly/3xWSn27
Recent headlines highlight the “deep learning loss” in Texas schools over the past school year, particularly in mathematics. Reports link this situation to students who attended school virtually all year – due to the pandemic – as those who “lost” the most. STAAR math results show many students in 5th and 8th grades are not meeting standards.
Why is engaging in virtual learning associated with a drop in math scores? There are a lot of complex issues surrounding why students score as they do on standardized tests, but the recent comparisons are useful for highlighting the incredibly problematic way in which math is taught in our schools in Texas.
Mathematics is typically taught in middle and high school as an endless series of demonstration and practice. Students are tasked with watching the teacher and copying what they do, often performing rote procedures that they do not understand. They are taught to sit quietly and follow instructions, as they solve sets of boring, decontextualized problems. Math is not taught in a compelling way, and students are expected to simply accept this.
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